There has been an awful lot of discussion on here in the past year about the use of AI, AI detection and the technology's merits and dangers, so I thought I'd conduct an experiment. I'd love to see your responses to this.
I've taken a short passage from one of my own stories on here. I won't say which one, but feel free to go and read through everything I've written to find it. ;) The story it comes from was written before any of the AI chatbots existed. I've fed that passage into 4 AIs with this prompt:
I am conducting an experiment to test whether people can distinguish between human-written and AI-generated text. I will provide a short passage from a book I wrote many years before you existed. Please rewrite this in a style of your choosing to convey the same information and emotional impact. Please avoid any 'tells' that people associate with AI-generated text, such as em-dashes. Try to make your version as 'human-sounding' as possible. I will also run your text through an AI detector and report the results as part of my experiment.
Below are the five versions of the passage, including the original in no particular order. I also ran all of these versions through both Quillbot and ZeroGPT. Quillbot reported all five as 0% AI (100% Human). ZeroGPT reported a range from 0% AI up to 70% AI, with only one over 40%, which I find interesting in itself. If you're interested, I can show you in a reply which bits of each passage ZeroGPT reported as AI-generated, because what it passed as human is as interesting as what it didn't.
So, my challenge to you is this: Can you tell which is the original text from these five? And what is your reasoning for your choice?
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Version 1
The English Tourist Board once branded Westmouth "The Jewel of the South Coast," and the title stuck because it was largely true. The town was a perfect time capsule of Victorian seaside glamour. Picture postcards usually featured the seafront, showing off rows of pristine whitewashed hotels and three grand piers reaching out into the bay. Just off the water, the Winter Gardens offered a dry refuge for holidaymakers caught in sudden downpours. Lately, the adjoining conference centre had become a revolving door for various political parties holding their annual summits. Then there was the Arboretum, where visitors flocked to rent boats on the massive lake or wander through carefully tended gardens filled with exotic plants brought in from all over the world.
When the traditional British seaside holiday crashed in the fifties and sixties, places like Blackpool, Scarborough, and Skegness took a massive hit. Westmouth managed to avoid that fate. Instead of trying to compete with cheap flights to the Spanish Riviera, the town simply pivoted to older crowds. It became the prime staging ground for coach tours exploring the south-eastern Garden of England. But it wasn't strictly a retirement haven. A direct rail line straight into central London drew in a much younger, trendier demographic. Young professionals snapped up weekend retreats or just moved there permanently. As a result, unemployment stayed rock bottom while property values went through the roof, quietly making it one of the wealthiest towns in Britain.
A lot of those London commuters already knew the streets by heart because they had spent their university years there. Westmouth University might not have had the massive size or endowments of the big city schools, but it carried serious academic weight. Princes, kings, future presidents, business moguls, and famous writers had all studied at "Westy." The campus itself had crowned Westmouth Hill to the north-east for more than a century and a half. Walking through it meant seeing entirely different eras of architecture rubbing shoulders. You would find the updated seventies Student Union right next door to a library built a hundred and twenty years ago, and the deeply traditional English and Mathematics departments sitting practically on top of an ultra-modern Institute of Sports Science.
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Version 2
The English Tourist Board liked to call Westmouth "The Jewel of the South Coast", and it was easy to see why. It was a magnificent relic of the Victorian age, the sort of grand seaside resort that once defined the English coast at its most elegant. The seafront, lined with white-painted hotels and guesthouses, was dominated by three splendid piers reaching out into Westmouth Bay, a view so handsome it had appeared on countless postcards. Further inland stood the Winter Gardens, a refuge for holidaymakers when the weather turned, and in more recent years the new conference centre bearing the same name had become a regular venue for the annual gathering of one political party or another. The Arboretum, with its carefully designed gardens, exotic plants from every corner of the world, and vast boating lake, remained another of the town's best-loved attractions.
When the great age of the British seaside faded in the fifties and sixties, Westmouth managed to escape the steeper decline that overtook places such as Blackpool, Scarborough and Skegness. It did so by attracting older visitors who had no desire to swap the English coast for the Spanish Riviera. Coach parties used the town as a base for touring the Garden of England in the south-eastern corner of the country. Yet Westmouth also appealed to a younger, more fashionable crowd. With a direct rail link into central London, it became home, or at least a weekend escape, for a growing number of young professionals. House prices were high, unemployment was low, and by almost any measure it ranked among the most prosperous towns in Britain.
For many of those commuters, Westmouth already felt familiar, because it was where they had spent their student days.
Westmouth University was a respected institution. It was not as big or as richly endowed as some of the great city universities, but it possessed a long and distinguished history of its own. Princes, kings and presidents had studied at "Westy", alongside prominent businessmen and prize-winning writers. A college had stood on the present campus, high on Westmouth Hill to the north-east of the town, for more than a hundred and fifty years. The university itself was a blend of old and new. The refurbished Students' Union building from the nineteen seventies sat comfortably beside the hundred-and-twenty-year-old library, while the venerable departments of English and Mathematics stood shoulder to shoulder with the ultra-modern Institute of Sports Science.
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Version 3
The English Tourist Board marketed Westmouth as "The Jewel of the South Coast." It was a stunning example of Victoriana at its most splendid and typified the seaside resorts that were popular during that era. The seafront, with its whitewashed hotels and guesthouses and its three magnificent piers stretching out into Westmouth Bay, had graced many a picture postcard. Further inland, the Winter Gardens harboured holidaymakers on rainy days and, in recent years, the new conference centre of the same name played host to the annual conference of one political party or another. The Arboretum, with its landscaped gardens full of exotic plants from around the globe and huge boating lake, was another tourist favourite.
After the heyday of the British seaside in the fifties and sixties, Westmouth avoided the sharp decline that befell towns like Blackpool, Scarborough and Skegness by appealing to the older tourists who didn't want to jet off to the Spanish Riviera. Westmouth was the base for many a coach party touring the Garden of England in the country's south-eastern corner. The town was also popular with the young and trendy. There was a direct train into the heart of London, and many young professionals made Westmouth their home or weekend retreat. Property prices were high, unemployment low. It was one of Britain's most prosperous towns.
Many of the commuters felt at home in Westmouth because it was where they had spent their student years.
Westmouth University was a highly respected institution. Not as large or as wealthy as some of the city universities, it nevertheless had a proud history. Princes, kings and presidents had studied at "Westy" along with leading businessmen and award-winning wordsmiths. There had been a college on the current campus, at the top of Westmouth Hill to the north-east of the town, for over a hundred and fifty years. It was a mixture of old and new buildings. The refurbished nineteen-seventies' Student's Union building sat happily alongside the hundred and twenty-year-old library. The historic departments of English and Mathematics cuddled up next to the ultra-modern Institute of Sports Science.
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Version 4
Westmouth had long been billed as the crown of England's southern shore, a place where the grandeur of the Victorian era still shone. The seafront was a postcard come to life—rows of whitewashed hotels and guesthouses, their facades gleaming under the coastal sun, and three grand piers jutting into the blue expanse of Westmouth Bay. Inland, the Winter Gardens offered shelter to holidaymakers on dreary days, while its modern counterpart, the conference centre, had become a regular venue for political gatherings. And then there was the Arboretum, a lush escape with its sprawling gardens of rare plants and a vast lake where families could while away an afternoon boating.
Unlike many of its peers—Blackpool, Scarborough, Skegness—Westmouth never lost its allure after the seaside's golden age in the fifties and sixties. It carved out a niche for itself, drawing older visitors who preferred its quiet charm to the bustle of foreign resorts. Coach tours through the Garden of England often started here, and the town's easy train link to London made it a magnet for young professionals. Some stayed for good, turning Westmouth into a thriving community with high property prices and low unemployment. It was, by most measures, one of the country's most successful towns.
For many of those commuters, Westmouth felt like a second home. They'd spent their university years here, at an institution that punched above its weight. Westmouth University might not have been the largest or the richest, but its reputation was solid. Over the decades, its halls had nurtured royalty, world leaders, and some of the brightest minds in business and literature. The campus itself was a blend of history and progress, perched atop Westmouth Hill. The seventies-era Student Union, freshly renovated, stood shoulder to shoulder with the stately old library, while the venerable departments of English and Mathematics shared space with the sleek, modern Institute of Sports Science.
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Version 5
The English Tourist Board used to call Westmouth "The Jewel of the South Coast." And honestly, it earned the name. It was pure Victoriana at its grandest, the kind of classic seaside town that defined that whole era. The seafront was lined with whitewashed hotels and guesthouses, and three handsome piers reached out into the bay like fingers, the sort of scene you'd see on countless postcards back in the day.
A little further back from the water stood the Winter Gardens, where holidaymakers would shelter on wet afternoons. More recently the new conference centre next door started pulling in the political parties for their annual get-togethers. Then there was the Arboretum, with its beautiful landscaped gardens full of strange plants from all over the world and a huge boating lake that was always popular with visitors.
After the great days of British seaside holidays in the fifties and sixties, Westmouth managed to escape the worst of the decline that hit places like Blackpool, Scarborough and Skegness. It quietly reinvented itself for older visitors who preferred a gentle coach trip over flying off to Spain. At the same time, it stayed attractive to younger people too. There was a fast train straight into central London, so plenty of young professionals bought flats there or used it as their weekend escape. Property prices stayed high and unemployment stayed low. It was one of the most comfortable, prosperous towns in the country.
A lot of the London commuters felt strangely at home in Westmouth because many of them had actually been students there. Westmouth University had a very good reputation. It wasn't as big or as rich as some of the big city universities, but it had real character and a long, proud history. Princes, future kings, presidents, top businessmen and well-known writers had all passed through "Westy" over the years.
The university sat at the top of Westmouth Hill, overlooking the town. There'd been some sort of college on that site for more than a hundred and fifty years. The campus was a nice mix of old and new: the refurbished seventies Student Union building nestled comfortably next to the grand old library that was over a century old. The traditional English and Maths departments sat right beside the shiny new Institute of Sports Science. It all somehow worked.